Recently, I spent the weekend away at a friend's cottage. It was a weekend away for a group of 6 ladies...a pre-wedding event for my future sister-in-law. When planning out what food I would contribute to the trip, I decided to make one of my all-time favourite summer recipes - gazpacho. While I do love a good summer salad, this simple gazpacho recipe is amazing.
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Gazpacho is a cold tomato soup that screams summer to me. I usually make a big batch for camping and like to bring it along on picnics in the park. Gazpacho is ideal because it is refreshing, won't spoil and is pretty easy to make.
I've been making gazpacho for years now. The only time you can really make gazpacho is when all the summer vegetables are ripe and ready to go. There's no replacement for in-season tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and herbs.
Summer Soup Gazpacho
3 large ripe tomatoes (or 6 small tomatoes)
1 English cucumber
1 sweet pepper - green, yellow red or orange
2 cloves of garlic
1 small onion (we left the onion out this time)
1 ½ cups tomato juice
2 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper
a few sprigs of basil
a couple of dashes of hot sauce (Tobasco or whatever you have on hand)
First, begin with peeling and seeding the tomatoes and cucumber. Peeling tomatoes is easier than you might think. Use a sharp knife to cut a shallow "x" in the bottom of the tomato.
Next, place tomatoes in a bowl and cover the tomatoes with boiling water. The skin will start to curl at the "x".
Now, remove the tomatoes from boiling water and peel off the skin with your fingers. It should simply slide right off. If it isn't peeling easily, pop it in another round of boiling water.
Now that the tomatoes have been peeled, it's time to remove the seeds. Slice the tomatoes in half. Use your fingers to scoop out the seeds. This is a great job for the kids to tackle.
Set the tomatoes aside and move onto the cucumbers. Slice the cucumber in half, lengthwise. Use a small spoon to scoop out any seeds. Finely chop the seeded cucumber and add it to the bowl of tomatoes.
Next up, chop the pepper, onion and mince the garlic and add them to the bowl with the tomatoes and cucumber
Now all the veggies are ready to go. Transfer ¾ of the veggie mixture to a blender. Add the tomato juice, hot sauce, basil leaves and olive oil to the blender. And the salt and pepper too.
Time to do some blending! Blend the gazpacho until it is smooth. We have had this Cuisinart blender for over 20 years, it was on our wedding registry. She has never let us down when we need her. While you can't buy our older model anymore, I've read all the reviews, and the Cuisinart Blender seems like a really great all-around blender.
I like to stir in the remaining ¼ portion of chopped veggies to the gazpacho. So there are still some pieces of vegetables. If you prefer, you can blend all the veggies and the soup will be totally smooth. Finally, it's time to pour the soup into a serving bowl.
The flavour of this gazpacho only gets better as it sits. Make it and then set it in the fridge to totally chill and let all the flavours mingle. Taste the gazpacho to see if you would like to add more salt or pepper.
When you are ready to serve the gazpacho it can be served with croutons on top, a few leaves of basil or with a dollop of sour cream.
The smell alone of this soup makes my mouth water! We, my sister and I served the gazpacho as a starter for our dinner of chicken burgers, grilled asparagus and potatoes with green bean salad. That is summer cottage cooking.
What are you cooking at your cottage this summer?
Fresh Gazpacho Summer Soup
Ingredients
- 3 large ripe tomatoes (approx. 3 cups) peeled and seeded
- 1 english cucumber peeled and seeded
- 1 sweet pepper chopped
- 1 shallot chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 ½ cups tomato juice unsalted
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ¼ cup fresh basil
- 2-3 dashes hot sauce your favourite kind
Instructions
- Begin with peeling and seeding the tomatoes and cucumber. Peeling tomatoes is easier than you might think. Use a sharp knife to cut a shallow “x” in the bottom of the tomato.
- Place tomatoes in a bowl and cover the tomatoes with boiling water. The skin will start to curl at the “x”.
- Remove the tomatoes from boiling water and peel off the skin with your fingers. It should simply slide right off. If it isn’t peeling easily, pop it in another round of boiling water.
- Seed the tomatoes. Slice the tomatoes in half. Use your fingers to scoop out the seeds. This is a great job for the kids to tackle.
- Set the tomatoes aside in a large bowl and move onto the cucumbers. Slice the cucumber in half, lengthwise. Use a small spoon to scoop out any seeds. Finely chop the seeded cucumber and add it to the bowl of tomatoes.
- Chop the pepper, onion and mince the garlic and add them to the bowl with the tomatoes and cucumber
- Now, transfer ¾ of the veggie mixture to a blender. Add the tomato juice, hot sauce, basil leaves and olive oil to the blender. And the salt and pepper too.
- Blend the gazpacho until it is smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl.
- Stir in the remaining ¼ portion of chopped veggies to the gazpacho. So there are still some pieces of vegetables. If you prefer, you can blend all the veggies and the soup will be totally smooth. Finally, it’s time to pour the soup into a serving bowl.
- The flavour of this gazpacho only gets better as it sits. Cover it and then set it in the fridge to totally chill (at least an hour) and let all the flavours mingle. Taste the gazpacho to see if you would like to add more salt or pepper or more hot sauce.
- When you are ready to serve the gazpacho it can be served with croutons on top, a few leaves of basil.
Notes
Nutrition
Check out all of our amazing summer salad recipes. The perfect summer picnic salads.
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